《福布斯》：伍茲將成爲首位億萬富翁運動員

Tiger Woods is on course to become the first billionaire athlete with the popular US golfer proving a marketing dream, according to Forbes Magazine.

Woods, who won the US Open last month despite a bad knee, is on track to exceed $1 billion in career earnings by 2010 after earning $115 million in 2007, said the American magazine which publishes an annual list of the world's richest people.

Forbes in Wednesday's edition said it would take 32-year-old Woods a bit longer to actually pocket that amount as taxes and management fees eat into his prize and endorsement money.

The calculation was based on Woods' estimated earnings in the annual rich list dating back to 1996, when he turned pro, and also credited the world number one golfer.

"Based on those criteria, we project Tiger Woods should join our list of the world's billionaires in 2011," said the magazine. "It will be an unprecedented occurrence."

The magazine said there are plenty of billionaires who have excelled at sports, like Switzerland's richest man and champion sailor Ernesto Bertarelli, but no billionaires who have accumulated their fortune by playing sports.

A golf prodigy as a child, his recent US Open victory was his 14th major championship and he has won 50 tournaments on the PGA Tour faster than any player.

But prize money only accounts for about a tenth of his earnings with the rest coming from lucrative endorsement deals signed by the exceptionally popular player with companies that include Nike, Buick and Gillette.

The magazine said Woods would earn about $90 million in endorsement contracts this year. Over the course of his career, he has earned more than $750 million from such deals.

據美國《福布斯》雜誌介紹，美國高爾夫天王“老虎”伍茲有望成爲世界體壇首位億萬富翁，這將是一個經典的營銷神話。

據負責編撰年度全球富豪榜的《福布斯》雜誌介紹，伍茲在2007年賺得1.15億美元，預計他在2010年的收入將突破10億美元。儘管受膝傷困擾，但32歲的伍茲仍贏得了上月美國公開賽的冠軍。

本週三出版的《福布斯》雜誌稱，今年32歲的伍茲要實現收入突破十億，還需要一段時間，因爲稅金和管理費都要從比賽獎金和代言費中扣除。

這一結果是《福布斯》根據伍茲在1996年年度富豪榜上的估計收入計算出來的。當年伍茲轉爲職業高爾夫球員，並被譽爲世界頭號高爾夫選手。

該雜誌稱：“基於以上這些標準，我們預計伍茲會在2011年躋身全球億萬富豪榜。這將是史無前例的壯舉。”

《福布斯》雜誌稱，雖然有許多億萬富翁曾叱吒體壇，比如瑞士首富、帆船冠軍恩尼斯托•貝塔瑞利，但還從沒有人完全通過比賽積累過這麼多財富。

伍茲在孩童時期就表現出了非凡的高爾夫天賦。最近他在美國公開賽中奪冠是他獲得的第14個大滿貫賽頭銜；此外，他早已奪得50個高爾夫PGA巡迴賽冠軍，奪冠速度之快超過其他任何球員。

不過，這些比賽獎金只佔伍茲總收入的十分之一，其餘收入都來自耐克、別克及吉列等一些大公司與他籤的鉅額代言合同。

《福布斯》雜誌稱，伍茲今年的代言合同將近9000萬美元。在伍茲的職業生涯中，有超過7.5億美元的收入都是代言所得